Seven hours is all it takes to crack the encryption that is in place on some supposedly secure websites. Security experts blame the US government's ban on the use of strong encryption back in the 1990s for a vulnerability that has just come to light. Named FREAK (Factoring attack on RSA-EXPORT Keys), the flaw exists on high-profile websites including, ironically, NSA.gov.

Restrictions that limited security to just 512-bit encryptions were lifted in the late 90s, but not before it was baked into software that is still in use today. The ban on the shipping of software with stronger encryption apparently backfired as it found its way back into the States. Security experts say the problem is serious, and the vulnerability is relatively easy to exploit.

Browsers can be hijacked and tricked into accessing websites using legacy encryption -- this was the discovery of researchers at Inria in France. There was disbelief that such old protection measures were still being used, but it soon became clear that hackers needed just a matter of hours to exploit the weak security to steal passwords and personal information, or even launch a full-scale attack on a website.

Talking to the Washington Post Matthew Green, a cryptographer at Johns Hopkins Information Security Institute, said that US government had effectively weakened its own security with the earlier ban on the exporting of strong encryption. "When we say this is going to make things weaker, we're saying this for a reason."

The vulnerability could be exploited on vulnerable sites, with encryption cracked in just seven hours. Worryingly, if test samples are correct, more than a quarter of websites that were previously thought to be secure are vulnerable to the problem. In a blog post, Green explains that the vulnerability affects OpenSSL (used by Android) and Apple TLS/SSL clients (used by Safari). He goes on to explain that "the SSL protocol itself was deliberately designed to be broken" and that a man-in-the-middle attack could be easily launched on sites:

The 512-bit export grade encryption was a compromise between dumb and dumber. In theory it was designed to ensure that the NSA would have the ability to 'access' communications, while allegedly providing crypto that was still 'good enough' for commercial use. Or if you prefer modern terms, think of it as the original "golden master key".

In effect, a backdoor put in place by the US government has left countless websites insecure. Green points out that the lengthy list of affected sites includes connect.facebook.net which is used to deliver Facebook's Like button to millions of websites. If this was hijacked, the consequences could be dire.

Patches will almost certainly be on the way, but the final word goes to Matthew Green who sums up the source of the problem quite succinctly:

Encryption backdoors will always turn around and bite you in the ass. They are never worth it.

Fresh from a few big mobile announcements at MWC, Qualcomm has announced a new fingerprint sensor technology to compete with Apple’s Touch ID.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sense ID is a new technology using ultrasonic waves to create a 3D fingerprint of the user, offering more depth than Touch ID, which uses an area-type capacitive 2D fingerprint.

Ultrasonic waves are already used in biometric facilities and business services, meaning this is the first consumer variation of the technology.

Not only can Qualcomm’s fingerprint sensor understand more from a fingerprint, but it also can be used on glass, sapphire crystal, metal, aluminum and plastic, meaning it could be featured anywhere on the device.

Users’ fingerprints are even readable if wet or dirty, unlike Touch ID and Samsung’s own fingerprint sensor technology from Synaptics. It is still not clear how reliable Qualcomm’s sensor will be compared to Touch ID.

Apple managed to get a huge lead over the competition in 2012 when it acquired AuthenTec, the best-in-class when it came to fingerprints and other biometric security.

The iPhone 5S was the first smartphone to launch with a decent fingerprint sensor, and the iPhone 6 improves on the accuracy. The Galaxy S6 might have finally caught up with its own technology, but Qualcomm’s looks to trump both.

Qualcomm will import the technology onto the Snapdragon 810 and 425 chips from now on, but it is not confirmed if the processor maker will have any partners on this venture.

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.

I’m sure you all know that your smartphone contacts app has long been essential for storing contact information, but while storage is its typical use, Android and Apple devices contacts are not limited to that function.

There are several nifty tricks you can use to lever the full potential of your contacts list. Here are seven of the best.

Android and iOS: Give a friend a unique name

So, maybe you’ve put your dad’s actual first and last name into your address book, but you’d like to simply tell Siri or Google Now to "call dad" when you want to give him a ring. Both Android and iOS solve that problem by providing an optional nickname field in the contacts app.

Simply open the desired contact card and click the 'Edit' option, select 'Add field' (or 'Add another field' for Google) and input the nickname.

The next time you make a voice command, you can simply use your contact’s nickname instead of the actual name originally saved on your address book.

Android and iOS: Improve Siri and Google Now pronunciations

It could easily become annoying whenever Siri or Google Now mispronounces a name and just does it every single time. Flaw as it may seem, this is now compensated for by the phonetics option.

This feature does not include using complex characters but can be used for most names. Say, if your voice command mispronounces Carlisle, you can input "Carlyle" into the phonetic field instead.

Doing so should be like that of adding a nickname. Click the 'Edit' button then under the add field, select 'Phonetic name' for Android, and either 'Phonetic first name', 'Phonetic middle name', or 'Phonetic last name', for iOS.

Android: Pin a contact

Yes, Android can let you pin a contact into your phone’s home screen -- outside the contacts app.

It’s a cool way to by-pass the process of skimming through your long list of contacts every time you need to call your boss or your best friend. Once the contact is pinned into your home screen, the contact’s icon will appear and the contact details will pop-up with a single tap.

From there you can easily send your text message or make your call.

To do this, select the contact you want to pin to your home screen and choose 'Place on Homescreen' under the list of options.

Android and iOS: Create a reminder of a special event

Occasions like your sister’s wedding, your parents’ anniversary or a friend’s birthday, are events that you wouldn’t want to miss and an Android and iOS contacts feature can help you with the tons of special dates that you need to remember.

Follow the same steps in adding a new contact, then on your iOS device look for a field that says 'Add date' or 'Add birthday', select the appropriate option and add the date.

Android uses the same process, only that it is much more lenient with the labels -- after selecting the add field button, just tap 'special dates', add the special occasion and label it with whatever event you’re attending.

Both the Android and iOS automatically provide prompts for these dates through the calendar app.

Android and iOS: Assign a distinct ringtone to a contact

Your smartphone won’t be in your hands 24/7, however, you may want to quickly know that it’s your boss calling and not someone you can ignore.

To be alerted when a specific contact calls, why not create a special ringtone for that person?

Under the contact card, select 'set ringtone' for Android and 'ringtone' for iOS and choose your desired ringtone for that specific contact.

iOS: Create a custom vibration

On top of the custom ringtone, iOS also ensures that you can distinguish a caller as your phone vibrates, which is especially useful when your smartphone is in silent mode.

The 'vibration' function, which also appears under the 'Edit' option, lets a user create a vibration pattern by just tapping and swiping the screen. Once the pattern has been created, a user can either save and assign the vibration for a contact, or select 'record' to re-do the pattern.

Android and iOS: Avoid annoying contacts

Whilst, in most cases, you would happily rummage through your bag to pick up a call from your best friend, there will be times when you’d want not to take a call from a particular person. This is a problem that’s easy to solve, thanks to the block functionality.

For contacts in iOS, the 'block this caller' option can be found at the bottom part of the contacts card. For Android, selecting the 'all calls to voicemail' option will do the trick.

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.

MWC 2015 has seen all manner of exciting smartphones, tablets, wearables and other goodies, but the event is not solely about brand new products. It's also a chance to look back on the past year and reflect on the highlights. Today Microsoft and Apple were among the companies picking up gongs for their products.

Both were to be found in the prestigious Best Mobile Handsets and Devices section. Apple's iPhone 6 shared the best smartphone award with the LG G3, and Microsoft Surface Pro 3 picked up the prize for best mobile tablet. Plenty of other awards were handed out in recognition of innovative technology products.

The iPhone 6 and LG G3 fought off competition from HTC One M8, Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and Sony Xperia Z3 in a category where Windows Phone devices were notable by their absence. A Lumia handset was to be found in the Best Low Cost Smartphone category nominee, but it was the Motorola Moto E that walked away with the accolade.

2014 proved to be the year that wearables really started to take off, and Motorola Mobility for Moto 360 claimed the top spot.The Best Mobile Tablet was arguably the most varied of the mobile device categories. Microsoft's tablet-laptop hybrid prevailed over the Apple iPad Air 2, Google Nexus 9, Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact.

Dennis Meinhardt, director of program management for Microsoft Surface, said:

We're absolutely thrilled to be winning this award. Surface Pro 3 is the world’s most productive tablet, and is a tablet that can replace your laptop. With Surface Pro 3 we have managed to marry the hardware and software to provide the power and performance of a full laptop without compromising the sleek design, lightness, and great battery life that we expect from a tablet.

On the surface, Samsung’s position as the world’s second largest smartphone vendor seems formidable. The firm’s mobile division posted profits of £1.1 billion for the fourth quarter of last year and its most recently released flagship phone, the S5, has sold more than 12 million units worldwide since its launch.

Apple’s ascension to top spot marks a swift fall for Samsung, which was outselling the US firm two-to-one in the fourth quarter of 2013. The fact that larger screen iPhones are now available is thought to have robbed Samsung of one of its key selling points. Meanwhile, budget Android smartphones from the likes of Lenovo and Xiaomi have seen Samsung struggle for sales in emerging markets like China, Indonesia and Malaysia.

The unveiling of Samsung’s next flagship phones at this year’s Mobile World Congress, therefore, holds increased significance. Can the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge arrest the company’s steady decline?

Samsung is hoping that the innovative curved screen promised by the latter is enough of a unique selling point to draw in customers. The S6 Edge features a display that curves around the edges on both sides to offer users a number of bespoke services. The first of which is People Edge, which provides calls and messaging options for the owner’s top five contacts, while Information Stream displays chosen notifications and weather information.

In terms of specs, both the S6 and S6 Edge are largely identical, and both are noticeably pushing a more premium feel than their predecessors. The plastic exterior is now gone, replaced by glass and a metal frame -- but perhaps the biggest change is how Samsung is marketing its new handsets.

During its MWC address, Samsung referred to learning from its past "missteps" and listening to consumer feedback -- a clear reference to the failings of its past smartphones. The S4 was heavily criticized for trying to cram too much innovation into one device, while the S5 has also been poorly received, selling 40 percent fewer units than predicted. Samsung’s decision to codename its new devices "project zero" clearly signals an attempted break from the failures of the past.

Samsung’s deputy president of European telecom operations Jean-Daniel Ayme certainly believes that the two S6 models offer something different to consumers. "By offering a wide range of devices to all people in the market, we accept the challenge of competition," he told the BBC. "So it is definitely a great opportunity for us to demonstrate that meaningful innovation will mean something to the people".

However, the worry for Samsung is that that the S6 Edge’s curved screen will be less of a USP and more of an unnecessary gimmick.

Unfortunately for Samsung, it does not have the brand loyalty of Apple, so when other manufacturers are offering similar specs at a lower cost, consumers are more inclined to make the switch. However, the decision to use more premium materials is likely to be a wise one, as this will mark an easy point of difference when compared to budget handsets.

The S6 will ultimately be judged on its sales figures and Samsung’s profit margins. The firm’s decision to switch to its own in-house processor, the Exynos 5 Series chip, could prove crucial. If successful, Samsung will make more money from each sale, bolstering its figures, but if it’s a failure, the Galaxy S6 could be the final nail in the coffin for Samsung.

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.

Troubleshooting network problems can be a nightmare, even for Windows experts, but equipping yourself with the right software can make all the difference.

As we wrote last month, NetCrunch Tools is a useful collection of common network management tools, an easier way to access old standards like Ping and Traceroute.

Essential NetTools has the same core idea -- blending several networking tools into one application -- but takes it several steps further, with more depth and plenty of extra features.

The program gets off to a good start with its graphical NetStat, a table giving details on all open network connections: process, process ID, protocol, ports, local and remote IPs and host name, connection state and more.

You can also copy information to the clipboard, save it to a report in various formats, or pass the details to one of NetTools other functions (TraceRoute, perhaps, to see the path to a site). It’s all very well done -- we’d rank it close to NirSoft and Sysinternals standards -- and probably justifies installing Essential NetTools all on its own.

There’s plenty more, though, like the integrated NetBIOS and TCP port scanners, which quickly check your network and report on connected devices, their names, workgroups, IP and MAC addresses and open ports.

There are a stack of useful web-related features. You can convert between IP addresses and host names, run various DNS queries (CNAME, MX), check a server is active and running a given service, look for an IP address in various blacklists (spam, open proxies etc), even try to discover whether an email address is valid (although there are lots of reasons why that might not work, so don’t expect too much).

And there’s still more, covering everything from networking basics (display and monitor access to network shares), to expert-level extras (SNMP audits, the ability to manually establish and control TCP and UDP connections).

Put it all together and Essential NetTools is a great suite, with some very strong individual tools, and many handy extras which you won’t often find elsewhere. Give it a try.

The upcoming Apple Watch looks beautiful, but it has some problems. The most apparent is the cost; rumors are pegging it to start around $350, skyrocketing much higher, depending on the materials you choose. Plus, battery life may be problematic, causing daily or multi-day charges.

The biggest downfall to the Apple Watch, however, is that it is tied to iOS; it will not work on Android, which limits its market. A good alternative is Pebble, as its watches are cross-platform and offer extremely long battery life. The recently-announced Pebble Time has a color screen, but still looks a bit cheap. No worries, as the Pebble Time Steel is here, featuring prettier materials and giving Apple something to worry about. The best feature? Battery life up to 10 days!

"At its heart, Pebble Time is an awesome watch. The new color e-paper display is easy to read and always-on, perfect for displaying incoming notifications and your favorite watchface. Compared with display technology like LCD or OLED, power consumption is minimized, enabling Pebble Time to achieve an industry-leading battery life of up to 7 days", says Pebble.

The company offers these specs which are exclusive to Time Steel.

CNC-finished 316L stainless steel casing.

Premium leather and stainless steel strap.

Up to 10 days of battery life.

If you already backed the standard Pebble Time, you may be upset to see the Steel announced so soon after. No worries, Pebble explains, "existing Pebble Time backers can easily change to or add a Pebble Time Steel by clicking the blue 'Manage' button that appears next to your pledge amount. On the next screen you will be prompted to choose your new reward tier".

If you make the change, you will not lose your place in line, but you will have to pay more, as the Steel version is $249. The standard smartwatch was either $159 or $179 -- depending on when you ordered -- so you will have to add the difference.

Not sure if you want to upgrade your order? The additional 3 days of battery should make the upgrade a no-brainer. Take a look at the video below before making up your mind.

Not wanting to be outdone by Apple, when it was announced that iOS 8 would encrypt data by default, Google felt compelled to follow suit. Back in September Google said that in Lollipop "encryption will be enabled by default out of the box, so you won't even have to think about turning it on". But six months is a long time, and it now seems that Google has had a change of heart.

Well, as noted by Ars Technica, many of the Lollipop handsets appearing at MWC 2015 -- including the Samsung Galaxy S6 -- do not have encryption enabled. Of course there is nothing to stop users from manually enabling it, but that's not really the point; the idea was that you "won't even have to think about turning it on". So what gives?

It's all about performance. On-the-fly encryption and decryption eats up valuable processor time, and handsets took a hit in terms of speed. Take a look at a blog post from Google about the release of Lollipop from late October and you'll immediately notice references to "new security features protecting you, like encryption by default" and the assurance that "full device encryption occurs at first boot".

But scroll to the bottom of the post and you'll see that there's an addendum:

In September, we announced that all new Android Lollipop devices would be encrypted by default. Due to performance issues on some Android partner devices, we are not yet at encryption by default on every new Lollipop device. That said, our new Nexus devices are encrypted by default and Android users (Jelly Bean and above) have the option to encrypt the data on their device in Settings ---> Security ---> Encryption. We remain firmly committed to encryption because it helps keep users safe and secure on the web.

Such is the change of heart that full device encryption by default is no longer a requirement for partners according to Google's Android Compatibility Program document (section 9.9 on page 59) it's now optional:

If the device implementation has a lock screen, the device MUST support full-disk encryption of the application private data, (/datapartition) as well as the SD card partition if it is a permanent, non-removable part of the device [Resources, 107]. For devices supporting full-disk encryption, the full-disk encryption SHOULD be enabled all the time after the user has completed the out-of-box experience. While this requirement is stated as SHOULD for this version of the Android platform, it is very strongly RECOMMENDED as we expect this to change to MUST in the future versions of Android.

So there is still a requirement for Samsung et al to support device encryption, but there is no requirement for it to be enabled as initially promised. You'll notice that the Android Compatibility Program document was last updated in the middle of January -- Google didn’t publicize the change, and it's only now that people are starting to notice and question it.

Problems with performance and compatibility are quite reasonable reasons for delaying encryption by default, but Google's lack of transparency is worrying. Following Google's promises back in the latter end of 2014, anyone buying a new Lollipop device would quite reasonably expect that their device is encrypted -- and the uninitiated may not even bother to check. The balance between performance and security is one for users to make for themselves, but Google needs to be open and honest about what is going on.

The results show that when it comes to tracking third-party risk, critical data loss or exposure (63 percent) and the threat of cyber attacks (62 percent) rank as the top concerns. These come above standard business issues, including whether the supplier could deliver the quality of service they were contracted for.

It also shows that the majority of IT decision makers believe that continuous third-party monitoring would have a major improvement on their security effectiveness in key areas. These include event identification time (76 percent), event remediation time (72 percent) and response times to high-profile events (71 percent).

However, whilst it's a major concern the findings also suggest that many businesses suffer a lack of resources to actively monitor and manage third parties. Only 37 percent of survey respondents reported tracking third-party security metrics on a monthly basis. This is despite the fact that 63 percent of respondents believe continuous third-party monitoring would improve their ability to screen vendors based on risk.

The landscape is changing though with 79 percent of respondents reporting that ensuring business partners and third parties comply with their security requirements is a top IT security priority over the next 12 months.

"The supply chain has become a cyber security minefield for companies, as we've seen with breaches caused by third-party vendors at Target, Neiman Marcus, Goodwill, Home Depot and many more," says Stephen Boyer, CTO and co-founder of BitSight Technologies. "Continuous, data-driven monitoring of third-party security vulnerabilities and threats has become essential for effective vendor risk management".

A majority of service providers have experienced some form of DDoS attack and have experienced loss of revenue or customers as a result.

This is among the findings of a new report by security and DDoS protection specialist Black Lotus. Only 16 percent of service providers said they'd rarely or never experienced a DDoS attack whilst 35 percent are being hit by one or more attacks each week.

There's no doubt that DDoS attacks have a major impact, 61 percent of all service providers see them as a threat to their business. Attacks are carried out across industry sectors too, 64 percent of platform as a service providers have been impacted by DDoS, as have 66 percent of managed hosting solutions providers and 66 percent of VoIP service providers.

"DDoS attacks lasting hours or even minutes can lead to loss of revenue and customers, making DDoS protection no longer a luxury, but a necessity," says Shawn Marck, co-founder and chief security officer of Black Lotus. "DDoS attacks will continue to grow in scale and severity thanks to increasingly powerful (and readily available) attack tools, the multiple points of Internet vulnerability and increased dependence on the Internet. Enterprises have to move from thinking of DDoS as a possibility, to treating it as an eventuality".

How providers respond to attacks varies too. In the event of a DDoS attack, 34 percent of the surveyed providers remove the targeted customer, and 52 percent temporarily null the route used or block the problem customer. Despite their efforts though 85 percent of respondents say they've experienced customer churn due to DDoS attacks.

The full report is available to download from the Black Lotus website and there's a summary of the findings in infographic form below.

It just became a whole lot easier to embed Twitter-hosted videos on websites. A newly launched widget makes it possible to add the video from a tweet to a website without the need to embed the entire tweet. It's a neat-looking solution that makes it simple to embed videos without unnecessary, distracting page furniture.

It works in just the same way as embedding an entire tweet, and it provides a way for Twitter to drive traffic back to its own site rather than other video services, whilst simultaneously making life easier for embedders and helping to pull in followers from other sites.

Embedding a video takes nothing more than clicking the More (ellipsis) button beneath a tweet and then selecting the Embed Video option. The necessary HTML is displayed ready for copying and pasting into the code of a web page or blog post. The way the widget works means that when used outside of Twitter, it is an excellent marketing tool for your Twitter account.

The video player blends neatly into the look of just about any website, and it does more than just house a video. Part of the point of using Twitter as a video-sharing platform is to gain followers, and the video widget helps in this regard. A link to the Twitter account that uploaded the video is displayed to the lower left of the video widget, while to the lower right a Twitter logo provides access to the main text of the tweet along with an all-important Follow button.

Check out the sample below which shows off how the widget looks:

You can now shoot, edit and share video on Twitter. Capture life's most moving moments from your perspective. pic.twitter.com/31JoMS50ha

The big change is that the premier Access Anywhere feature has been replaced by a new Remote Control tool available via the Account screen in all editions (click Account, scroll down to My Other Devices).

Avast’s Browser Cleanup technology is now integrated with the main interface, and run as a part of the Smart Scan. If you have some "bad add-ons" then you’ll be warned by default, and have the chance to remove them.

Elsewhere, Avast’s NG virtualization is faster and more stable, while WebShield has less impact on browsing speeds and does a better job of handling expired certificates.

Other items on the "What’s new" list include better license activation during setup, and a redesigned Chrome plugin, and the whole package is now apparently more compatible with Windows 10 Technical Preview.

If you have Avast already installed then it’s safest to upgrade via the product’s own updater (Settings > Updates > Program).

It seems like Google Play has been with us as long as Android, but in truth it hasn't, although that's only due to a name change for the store that was there from the start. Now the modern version of that store is celebrating a birthday. It's been three years since the relaunch of the app, which comes with most, but not all, Android devices.

In celebration of this momentous occasion Google is offering up some deals, and they span across all manner of things -- from apps and books, to movies and music. Steep discounts are being given for many things and a dedicated page in the store will give you the list.

Planning to get in shape this spring? The Runtastic app is only $0.10 right now if you care to pick it up. Looking to plan a movie night? Grab Kill Bill volumes one and two for only $2.99 or The Wolf of Wall Street for $8.99. In the mood for music? Daft Punk's Discovery is only $0.99.

There is no word on how long these deals are good for, so if you wish to grab something at a bargain price then head to this page on the Google Play store and start your shopping spree.

With MWC 2015 underway in Barcelona, the tech world is laser focused on mobile devices at the moment. Whether your mobile device preference is an iPhone, an Android handset or a Windows Phone device, your decision will have been swayed by a number of things -- price, brand reputation, knowledge of the ecosystem, and range of apps. Android may be the most popular choice at the moment, but this appears to be in spite of problems the platform suffers form.

A new report from Crittercism suggests that Android apps crash more frequently than their iOS counterparts. But this is not the only bad news for Google's mobile operating system; the report also finds that the fragmentation of Android persists.

The report from Crittercism -- a company with services that monitors app performance -- looks at the differences between iOS and Android in terms of fragmentation (Microsoft may be disappointed that Windows Phone is not included but, globally, the platform remains relatively insignificant) and app stability. Android fares worse than iOS here.

If you were wondering which types of app are most prone to crashing, Crittercism reveals that photo, video, games and social networking titles are most likely to fall over for iOS users (2.5, 2.4 and 2.1 percent respectively). The categories, and failure rates, are a little different (and higher) on Android -- entertainment, business, photography, and shopping (5.3, 3.4, 3.3 and 3.3 percent).

Apple is singled out for fixing problems quickly. After launch, iOS 8 suffered an app crash rate of 3.3 percent, but this was quickly addressed with updates both from Apple and app developers. The crash rate is now in line with iOS 6 at 2.2 percent, while iOS 7 sits at 2.1 percent. With each iOS release there is a spike in crashing at launch, followed by an ultimate increase in stability. Interestingly, there has been a jump in app crashes on iPhone 4s as developers concentrate their time and energy on newer devices.

The report makes for interesting reading when it looks at adoption rates for the latest version of mobile operating systems. It will come as little surprise that there are more iOS users running the latest version of iOS than there are Android users running the latest version of Android. This is something we probably already knew, but nearly six months after the release of iOS 8, it's worth another look.

Apple's policy of making new versions of iOS available to supported handsets as soon as possible means that there is a very fast adoption rate. So fast, in fact, that it took just 50 days for iOS 8 to account for half of app traffic. We’ve reach the point now that iOS 7 accounts for just 30 percent of app traffic, and iOS 6 and earlier are all but insignificant. Sales of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus helped to drive this adoption, with the two devices now accounting for 19 percent of app traffic.

It's a very different story for Android. Lollipop may not have been available for as long as iOS 8, but in a little under three months it managed to account for less than 2 percent of app traffic. The bulk of traffic is split between KitKat and Jelly Bean, but Ice Cream Sandwich still features in the charts.

BlackBerry shipped an insignificant number of smartphones last year, but the Canadian maker is not giving up the fight yet. Today, at MWC 2015, it announced a new mid-range handset, called Leap, and revealed an upcoming slider phone, which CEO John Chen referred to as "The Slider".

Leap is clearly not designed for the typical BlackBerry aficionado, as the smartphone is an all-touchscreen affair, with no physical QWERTY keyboard in sight. Such designs have not helped BlackBerry woo consumers nor business clients so far. The Slider though is the more conservative of the two, looking at it from the perspective of BlackBerry fans.

BlackBerry says that it designed Leap to appeal to young professionals and companies that prioritize privacy and security, two of its core values. The smartphone is designed to keep up with active users, being said to last 25 hours with heavy use. The price certainly reflects its mid-range ambitions, as it will cost $275 when it goes on sale in the following months. Europe will get it in April.

Needless to say, Leap offers all the typical BlackBerry 10.3.1 OS features, including the two app stores (BlackBerry's own and Amazon's Appstore), Blend and Link software, and much more. It remains to be seen whether its target market will be impressed by the software enough to buy it.

BlackBerry has not revealed much about The Slider. It is codenamed Keian, after Keian Blundell, the son of a CrackBerry contributor who passed away. It will feature a dual curve display, and is designed in collaboration with Porsche Design.

As you can see from the image above, The Slider features a physical QWERTY keyboard and a pretty large touchscreen. Chen says it will ship later this year, without mentioning a specific release date. However, I wonder how many smartphone users would be interested in getting a slider in this day and age -- The Slider looks to be designed for BlackBerry die-hards.

BlackBerry also revealed that its Classic QWERTY smartphone will be available in a white trim in March, with the blue and bronze versions to follow in April.

As you might expect that was just the start of the leak, and more screenshots from Build 10022 have appeared on the web (again from Wzor), including ones showing off the desktop, Settings, Task View and more.

The first thing to say is the changes on show in Build 10022 are minimal. If you’re hoping to see a ton of new features or improvements then you will be disappointed. It looks as if the new build is mostly focused on under the hood improvements.

That said, it’s always good to see how things are progressing with the new OS.

Changes we have noted are the "New desktop" button in the Task View UI has shifted over to the right (rather than appearing next to existing desktops), which seems like a much more sensible location for it. The bar with the desktops in it has gained some transparency too. The rather weird icons, which I’m really not a fan of (is Microsoft employing children in its art department now?), can be seen clearly in the desktop shot.

Microsoft didn’t release a new version of Windows 10 last month, so it’s hoped we’ll see a new build pushed out soon.

HexBrowser.NET then uses its low-level knowledge of file structures to identify the file type: a rar archive, a Windows bitmap, an executable, a Rich Text Format document, an internet shortcut, whatever it might be (more than 1,000 formats are supported).

HexBrowser.NET occasionally goes even further, giving you some low-level details of the file's innards. Click "Archive", say, and it won't just tell you the file is a "Zip archive": it’ll also identify the number of files it contains, and list them individually.

This isn't always as helpful as it could be. When we selected an MSI file, the program didn't clearly tell us it was an installer, or even a program, instead identifying it as an "OLE2 Compound document". The lengthy report does contain more useful information (the "SummaryInformation" table has the keywords, "Installer, MSI, Database"), but you have to wade through plenty of other details to find it.

Still, HexBrowser.NET does a reasonable job, most of the time. And even if it can’t identify something, built-in hex and text viewers mean it’s easy to explore the file yourself.

The online world has long been a space in which brands and businesses have jostled for attention. Until recently, there have been only a small number of domain extensions available, with the most popular ones including .com, or .co.uk.

The limited number of possibilities meant that prime domain addresses were fiercely fought over, with the market becoming increasingly saturated as rising numbers of brands looked to establish an online presence. Now however, a new programme spearheaded by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is changing the face of the domain name marketplace -- by introducing more than 1200 new domain suffixes to the Internet.

As a result, the small and somewhat stale pool of traditional .com and .co.uk domain extensions has become far more diverse, and we’re now seeing extensions which are brand-specific (.lego), geographic (.nyc), and even foreign-scripted (.شبكة). The move is designed to open up the domain name space, and inject a new level of competition into the market.

In total, more than 1200 new web extensions are due to be launched over the next few years, and the influx of new domains presents both significant opportunities and threats to brands. Here are some key insights to help navigate the new domain name programme:

1. Identify Which Domains Are Being Released, and When

It’s important for marketers to be aware of the different types of domains which are being released, and how each type could affect their brand. There are six main categories:

Internationalized Domain Names: Where the domain suffix is in a foreign-scripted (.شبكة).

Marketers will need to have an idea of when each domain is being released, in order to begin the registration process. There is a calendar available which maps out the already confirmed timescales for the new upcoming domains.

2. Identify the Opportunities

Brands can use the new domain addresses to increase command of their online presence, and better control their corporate image.

For example, a clothes retailer could utilize the .shop, .luxury or .fashion domains to help consumers associate the brand with a specific area of expertise, which has a valuable effect on revenue.

The new domains allow brands to create striking and memorable domain addresses, and demonstrate high levels of consumer trust. A business could perhaps utilize the .trust suffix to further verify the brand’s identity online.

The location and language-focused domains (such as .london) help brands to appeal to a target audience, and allow visitors to know what the site is likely to deliver.

3. Identify the Threats

Protecting your brand’s identity and trademark should be uppermost in your mind. The new domain programme presents three main areas of threat which need to be negated. All three threats below pose significant damage to a business’ reputation online, so brands need to be vigilant.

Fraud. Phishing threats are on the rise, and criminals could register your brand against a new domain to masquerade as you, and steal customer identities/passwords. Domains to keep an eye on: .group, .solutions, .online, .finance.

Counterfeiting. Domains which could be registered used for the sale of counterfeit goods using your brand, such as yourbrand.cheap. Domains to keep an eye on: .shop, .deal, .discount, .sale.

4. Protect Your Brand

Brands need to ensure they have a complete overview of how their name is registered and used online. The first step is to register their trademark in the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH). Set up by ICANN, this is a single database of registered trademarks which offers protective mechanisms tailored to trademark holders.

Registering your brand has two distinct advantages:

You will have first dibs on registering new domains related to your trademark, before the domain registration process opens up to the general public. This significantly minimizes the chances of cybersquatting, where third parties look to exploit your brand name, or masquerade as you online.

Having registered in the TMCH, brands are notified if anyone else attempts to register a domain using your trademark. You will then have the opportunity to take swift and decisive action if there is a breach of trademark ownership.

The new domain program is expanding the Internet significantly, and the opportunities for brands and their marketers to bolster their online offerings are numerous.

That said, there are pitfalls and threats which can prove costly for brands to correct, and they need to be aware of the protective mechanisms which are in place to prevent damage to business’ trademarks and reputations.

YU Televentures, a Micromax Mobile-owned smartphone brand, grabbed headlines late last year for launching the Yureka smartphone. The Yureka packs in mid-range specification and runs on Cyanogen OS while maintaining an enticing affordable Rs 8,999 ($140) price point. The company is now working on the second iteration of the popular Yureka smartphone, YU’s co-founder Rahul Sharma confirms to BGR India.

Codenamed “Project Caesar”, the smartphone will come with improved specification, which Sharma doesn't want to reveal just yet. On the software front, it will run on Android Lollipop-based Cyanogen OS 12. Sharma noted that the smartphone will be launched in April.

Micromax Mobile, the largest smartphone vendor in India launched YU last year. It is a separate company that employs the online-only retail model. The said model has been tried and tested by several companies in India in last two years, and has been found to be successful while also reducing several overhead expenses.

“Micromax already had tailwind behind it and were growing in numbers month after month, quarter after quarter. We were thinking about what’s next and we wanted to target a different set of users – the tech natives and digital natives – the nerds.” Sharma told BGR India. “They want to customize their phones. What were we doing for them? And with that thought YU was born,” he added.

Yureka smartphone was launched in India in December of last year. It sports a 5.5-inch IPS display with 1280 x 720 screen resolution. The handset is powered by a 64-bit capable Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor paired with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage that can be further expanded using a microSD card. Other features of the smartphone include a 13-megapixel primary camera, and a 5-megapixel snapper upfront. It packs in a 2,500mAh battery and runs on Cyanogen OS 11.

The smartphone has been well received by Indian consumers. The company has managed to sell the Yureka smartphone in record time in the flash sales. The first flash sale saw 15,000 units sell out in within 3 seconds. Most of the sales since then have ended in within 3-4 seconds.

March Madness is almost upon us. For those outside the US this may sound a bit weird -- almost like what people claim to happen during a full moon. In truth it's actually more mundane, though many folks may argue that point. It's the college basketball tournament that culminates in the crowning of a school as the new national champion. It's the time of year when even non-gamblers lay down money and fill out brackets.

Can you watch it online? Well, sort of. A special YouTube channel is being set up to bring you some of the action. The selections for participation will be made March 15th and the games get underway on the 17th. The grand finale actually supersedes the month, with a championship game played on April 6th.

Google plans to add multiple aspects to the game for all its viewers -- "Starting with the 2015 NCAA Division I Basketball Championships, you can watch game highlights, pre- and postgame shows and more on the new NCAA March Madness YouTube channel. Subscribe to the channel to get all the latest updates around the tourney, from shows airing across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV", states Roland Lange of YouTube Sports.

On top of this, Google pledges to enhance its search for the annual event, adding schedules, scores and more to the results of your query.

So get those brackets filled out, lay down your money (if you choose, otherwise do it for fun) and let us know how your picks fared in the tournament.